Background
Teleconsultation services grew significantly in France during the COVID-۱۹ pandemic. Reimbursed teleconsultations increased by a hundredfold between ۲۰۱۹ and ۲۰۲۱, establishing it as an emerging healthcare delivery modality. However, medication dispensing patterns following teleconsultations remain largely unexplored. This study aimed to characterize post-teleconsultation medication dispensing patterns between ۲۰۲۱ and ۲۰۲۳. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the French health database. The study included all teleconsultations conducted that resulted in at least one medication dispensing event (TLCs) between January ۱, ۲۰۲۱, and June ۳۰, ۲۰۲۳. We described patient demographics, prescriber characteristics, and dispensed medication. Results During the study period, ۱۱ ۲۰۲ ۳۶۴ TLCs (۳۴.۳%) out of ۳۳ ۸۵۳ ۹۱۱ resulted in medication dispensing. Among these ۱۱ ۲۰۲ ۳۶۴ TLCs, the patient population predominantly comprised females (۶۴.۴%), individuals without long-term medical conditions (۸۶.۴%), with a mean age of ۴۲.۲ years (SD ± ۲۰.۸). Teleconsultations were mainly conducted by liberals’ physicians (۸۶.۸%) and health centre-employed practitioners (۱۲.۱%). The use of teleconsultation platforms increased fivefold between the first semesters ۲۰۲۱ (۴.۲%) and ۲۰۲۳ (۲۸.۲%). Teleconsultations resulted in medications targeting the nervous system (۵۳.۱%), digestive system (۲۸.۳%), and respiratory system (۲۱.۸%). Two contexts of dispensing emerged: dispensing with chronic indication (۴۲.۸% of TLCs) characterized by a long median time and several dispensing, and dispensing with an acute indication (۵۵.۶%), characterized by single dispensing with a ۰-۱ day between teleconsultation and dispensing. Conclusion One third of the teleconsultations resulted in medication dispensing, mainly for young, urban patients with good access to care, in contrast to the objective as described in the French Law. Dispensing patterns revealed two distinct modalities, acute symptomatic and chronic disease management. Certain classes of drugs dispensed (antibiotics, opioids, benzodiazepines) may raise questions about appropriate dispensing practices in teleconsultations.
